SHORT:
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on Utøya 22 July 2011, Blakstad Haffner Arkitekter / Fantastic Norway was engaged to create a strategy for the re-establishing of a political camp on the island, in close relation to the Labour Youth Party (AUF).
Utøya is a meeting place for youths, a political workshop and a place for culture, sports and friendship. For over 60 years it has been the arena for AUFs summer camp. It is a place where new political ideas are formed, ideas that have made it into Norwegian and European politics and changed peoples lives for the better.
The attack on July 22nd left few physical traces on Utøya. The visible ones are found in the cafe building, where 13 people were killed, and many scared physically and physiologically for life.
We have designed a building that honour the areas of the café building directly affected by the massacre. We "protected" the places for 13 casualties and also the restrooms parts that created a safe hiding place where 19 survived. The parts not central to preserving the memory were removed.
A new building was laid over the preserved, in the same axis as the other new buildings we have erected. This represents and clarifies a shift of the history.
69 pillars of wood support the buildings roof, representing those who died on the day. Around these columns there are 495 outer poles by number representing the people who survived the tragedy and who carry the memories of this day. Between them the space is creating an outer cloister.
Openings between each pillar in the fence ensure visibility and transparency. From the cloister there are 5 different entrances to the building to give fluidity in the movement and to exclude the feeling of being enclosed.
LONG:
Utøya
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on Utøya 22 July 2011, Fantastic Norway was engaged to create a strategy for the re-establishing of a political camp on the island, in close relation to the Labour Youth Party. The ambition was to reflect and reinforce values such as commitment, solidarity, diversity and democracy, both through form and function. In short we have done this by establishing a small village with small streets, belfry and a town square on the very top of the island.
The village consists of many small units that together ad up to a bigger community: A symbol of unity and diversity. Utøya is all about dedication, unity, diversity and democracy. Our ambition was to reflect and strengthen these values, both in function and form.
Erlend Blakstad Haffner was project manager for the project and after the preliminary design phase, Fantastic Norway was closed and Erlend Blakstad Haffner decided to devote his full attention to the project.
About the island
In 1932 the labour movement bought Utøya, and it soon became a popular summer retreat. In 1950 the island was given to AUF, and it has since been managed by AUF, the labour youth organisation. For over 60 years it has been the arena for AUFs summer camp, where young people come together for a week each summer to engage in politics and social activities. It is a place where politics are discussed, where politicians are asked the important and difficult questions. It is a place where new ideas are formed ñ ideas that have made it into Norwegian politics, and changed peoples lives for the better.
Utøya has also been used extensively by other civil society organisations. Scout camps have been held at the island, environmental organisations have made controversial and ground breaking decisions here, while religious organisations have celebrated themselves and their beliefs. Guests from all over the world has visited on the island, exchanging experiences and joining forces in the work for a better world.
Utøya is a meeting place for youths, a political workshop and a place for culture, sports, friendship and love.
On the afternoon of July 22nd 2011, a right-wing terrorist attacked AUFs summer camp. The attack followed the detonation of a bomb outside the government building in Oslo. 77 people, most of them under the age of 20, lost their lives that day, 69 killed on Utøya. Many more were injured. Hundreds of young campers fled Utøya, swimming in the cold waters of the Tyrifjord as the only escape. Heroic local residents and summer guests in private boats from the near-by Utvika Camping saved many of these.
The plans for Utoya:
Standing up for democracy, diversity and the freedom of speech can come at a high price. But violence, threats and hate can only be met by knowledge, debate and tolerance, both as individuals and as a society. Extremists must not be allowed to dictate how we use our freedom of speech, or to make our societies less open and more intolerant. The battle for freedom and justice, human rights, freedom of speech and democracy concerns all of us, regardless of where in the world we live.
With this as a guiding principle, we have designed the new buildings to make Utøya an important international symbol for democracy and free speech. New generations of young people from all over the world will visit the island and through exchanging stories, experiences and practical knowledge be better equipped to stand up against and defend these essential rights that are important for any society.
For more than 60 years, Utøya has been Norways most important campsite, and has had enormous value for AUF and the young parts of the labour and trade union movement. The island has been a meeting point where engaged youth come together for a political workshop, and for culture, sports, friendship and love. These were the ideals that were attacked on 22.7.11. When we now return to Utøya, it is important to commemorate those who lost their lives that fatal day. Through telling their stories and showing how they lived and what they believed in, AUF will honour the memory of those who were lost on 22.7.11. This memory will forever be part of Utøyas identity, and will be important also for future generations of campers. They should be able to create new, positive memories, so that the history of Utøya can continue. Utøya should strike the balance between memory and new life.
Main square:
To accommodate for new activities and democratic debate, we have built new buildings which houses kitchen, dining hall and conference rooms. The new buildings create a square that is a meeting point and a social arena for new generations of campers and other visitors. The new square has roughly the same footprint as the old cafe building, but the new buildings have upgraded facilities that can accommodate up to 240 people.
The spaces are interconnected and flexible, allowing for different room configurations, to accommodate for groups of all sizes. This is important to ensure that Utøya can be used for many different purposes for many years to come.
Hegnhuset
When we tell the history of Utøya, it is therefore important to tell the whole story. By understanding the light and the dark, the good and the bad, of Utøyas history, future generations can understand the importance of fighting the evil that came to Utøya 22.7.2011.
Blakstad Haffner Arkitekter have been working closely with the Labour Youth Party and an international resource group with designing the memorial and learning centre on Utøya. “Hegnhuset” is the most central and important structure for the future use of the island.
The horrific attack on July 22nd left few physical traces on Utøya. The visible ones are found in the cafe building, where 13 people were killed, and many more hurt physically and physiologically for life.
These traces are visible evidence of the atrocities that happened on that day, and carry with them important memories and stories.
We have kept these traces for the affected families, for those who were there and for the Norwegian people who have stood together with AUF in the mourning. And kept these traces for posterity, so that new generations can learn and take responsibility for safeguarding our democracy. This is the ambition with the new building “Hegnhuset”. We have designed a building that honour the areas of the building directly affected by the massacre, but also preserve those parts of the building that created a safe hiding place on the 22nd of July.
The central concept is to remove those parts of the building that are not central to preserving the memories of July 22. We "protected" areas of small and large assembly halls where there were 13 casualties and the restrooms where 19 survived. Over this remains of the cafe building we added a second building envelope as a protective cover.
The new building body was laid in a distorted angle. in the same axis as the other new buildings we are erecting on Utøya on the main square. It represents and clarifies shift, a new historical
layer and a new chapter on the islands history.
69 pillars of wood support the building’s roof. These represent those who died on July 22. The columns have bodily dimensions and stand together as 69 characters that create the interior space.
Around these 69 columns there are 495 outer poles, which creates a fence around the interior and by number representing the people who survived the tragedy on Utøya and who carry the thoughts and memories of this day for the rest of their lives.
The zone between the 69 inner pillars and outer fence creates a cloister. The outer fencing shields the interior of the preserved part of the building. They filter the entry into the building through a charged spatial sequence. The cloister is open between each pillar in the fence for visibility and transparency. But it is also a fence with direction and reticence and clear entries and exits, one feels trapped in the building's symbolic constituents. Entrenched but seemingly free. Openings to the outside are constant but the way there, in and out, is difficult to find immediately. Openings are placed randomly. This choice is made to emphasise the chance in the choices that were made the 22nd of July and to give the answers were not getting. From the cloister there are 5 different entrances to the building to give fluidity in the movement and to exclude the feeling of being enclosed.
The interior of the old cafe building houses the affected parts of the cafe building and a learning and information area with specific and personal content from Utøya. Between the floors of the old cafe building and the new areas surrounding the old structure. The old main staircase makes a visual link between memories from 22 July and the dissemination zone around the old building.
Quote Erlend Blakstad Haffner architect, project leader
Hegnhuset holds the story that gestalts the memory of the most brutal event in the post war history in Norway. The building is not polished; it cannot be of respect of the bereaved.
I built the story of those who daily carries the grief, if they are bereaved or those who survived the tragedy.
Quote Alice Greenwald about Hegnhuset:
“The architecture effectively and creatively meets the challenge of honouring the past while looking to the future. The design elegantly incorporates the footprint and foundational elements of the original structure into a new building that embraces both remembrance and learning all the while bearing witness to the terrible events that happened at this very site on 22 July 2011. Hegnhuset on Utøya will enable all who visit to pay their respects to the 69 lives so senselessly taken on the island that day, offer comfort and solidarity to those still wounded in body and spirit, and inspire a new generation of youth with an understanding of the continuity of values that can and must endure, despite devastation and unthinkable loss.”
Alice M. Greenwald, Director
National September 11 Memorial Museum, New York City
Biography Erlend Blakstad Haffner:
Erlend Blakstad Haffner is an optimistic architect of cooperation. He runs Blakstad Haffner architects that is engaged with building design, development strategies, cooperative design, mobilization processes and has experience ranking from teaching and to being a program host for a national TV show about architecture.
His main focus is currently the work with the Utøya Island. The project on Utøya is developed in close collaboration with the labour youth organisation and the victims of the massacre. Erlend is project manager and responsible architect for the new youth camp.
Erlend founded Fantastic Norway with Håkon Matre Aasarød in 2003. In the 10 years to come the architectural studio Fantastic Norway was engaged in building design, mobilisation and participation processes, development strategies, writing and television production.
The primary ambition of the studio was to create an open, inclusive and socially aware architectural practice and by that contribute to re-establishing the role of the architect as an active participant in – and a builder of society. Fantastic Norway’s credo was: “Every town is different; every place is in some way fantastic. We aim to embrace this fact and through dialogue transform it into architecture”.
The heart and soul of the studio was a bright red caravan. Combined with media coverage and a variety of essays in the local newspaper, the caravan functioned as a meeting point and a mobile platform for architectural discussions, debates and workshops. Fantastic
Norway gathered ideas, suggestions and stories from the communities they worked in and utilised this collected knowledge in the design process. This inclusive way of designing anchored their projects locally and created a personal relationship between the proposed architecture and the people affected by it.
As a supplement to their ambulant practice, Fantastic Norway stimulated to broad public awareness of architecture with more than 60 articles and essays in local newspaper in addition to several special installations and stunts. In 2011 the partners Haffner/Aasarød hosted a television series of 6 episodes á 29 min for NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) aiming to arouse a broad public interest and curiosity for the field of architecture and planning.
After 10 exciting years of fantastic adventures, – people and – projects, the caravan was finally parked in December 2013 for Haffner to follow the Utøya project and master plan to construction.
DISTINCTIONS
Nomination MIES AWARD 2017-
1.Prize “The Iakov Chernikohov International Architectural Prize”, Moscow/Russia 2011
“FAD medal of honour” for “re-establishing the architect as a constructor of society” in Barcelona/Spain in 2007
2. Price “Blueprint Magazine award for best stand design”, 100% Design Earls Court London/England
2. Price “Award for best Young Designers of 2010”, Norwegian Ministry of Culture, Oslo/Norway 2010
“Architects of the Year” at the Oscar Hansen Symposium in Bergen/Norway in 2005.